


Monster

by Fawnae



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Breath of the wild map, Demons, I should be doing Japanese homework, Monster - Freeform, Multi, Past Lives, Supernatural - Freeform, Twilight Realm, a twist of multiple time lines, modern hyrule
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 05:52:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16152941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fawnae/pseuds/Fawnae
Summary: Hateno was always a quiet town. Nothing ever happened and no one suspected anything ever would. Violet like everyone else believed this and lived it. But when a mysterious murder happens in the woods that no one knows the details to? Well his life is just about to be flipped upside down.





	Monster

**Author's Note:**

> AHHH this is my first Legend of Zelda fic! I hope it does well and I hope you enjoy! Leave me feedback and I hope to keep some of you with me!

A sharp rattling filled the night, disrupting the chirping crickets, causing them to fall silent for a moment, listening intently before they hesitantly continued their songs. A metallic smell covered the petrichor of the forest, further ruining the natural beauty the night provided. Murmurs passed back and forth, guiding and suggesting as they determinedly continued their work. 

“Are you almost done?”

There was the snap of a cap being fitted back into place and the metal thunk of a paint brush hitting a pail.

“Almost. I don’t want to mess up the words. Can you bring the light over a little closer?” 

The hooded figure trudged off, grabbing the lantern, returning and holding it over the kneeling latter. The book on the ground seemed to flare in the orange light, mocking them like flames calling out to moths. The boy on the ground licked his dry lips nervously, eyes flickering back and forth from the twisted text to his paintbrush, matching the circular images design as best he could. Long hair cascaded down as the figure above him leaned forward more, his lips pursing as her hair brushed his face. 

“We need to hurry… The witching hour is soon.” 

She sounded strained, like if they didn’t do it soon, they’d never be able to. He nodded, finishing the last crooked word, wiping the sweat off his brow. He laughed softly before dropping the brush in the bucket of white paint and standing back, careful not to smudge their hard work. A cold hand slipped into his, giving it a tight squeeze before they turned off the lantern. 

“I can’t believe it. We finally figured it out.” Her lips pulled up into a anxious smile, her head leaning on his shoulder as she watched the ground. His hand slowly came up and brushed her hair back, “We will finally show the world that our work wasn’t for nothing. We will get everything we’ve deserved for this. No one will take it away from us now. It’s just a shame… he couldn’t join us for this.” 

“Shh. Don’t say that. He helped us all the way up until this point, his research is the only reason we are able to get this far. We will be fine. This is for all of us.” 

Their eyes met, hope and excitement filling them. They both jumped when a small beep sounded from the girl’s wrist, letting them know it was time. They parted, their fingers lingering for a moment before they began to clear the tools they had used to make the circle.

Taking their positions, standing on opposite sides of the white paint barrier, their eyes locking in the poor moonlit grove one last time. Brown eyes looked down, his pocket producing a knife, the blade flipping out with a wicked gleam as he held it above his palm. He sliced a deep and long line across his palm, the ruby liquid quickly escaping out and dripping into the shapes below. Both of their voices began to murmur, chanting a haunting tune that steadily grew louder and louder. 

The melody of the forest went silent, the trees groaning and shifting away as a strong unnatural wind filled the small clearing, pushing outward from the circle. Animal fled from the area, their screams and scampers echoing in the two casters ears. The wind started to howl, growing more and more violent as they continued, forcing them to dig their feet down so they could stand their ground. The white paint of the circle began to glow red, purple lightning dancing out in short and powerful bursts, their cracks shaking the ground. The soil started to darken, turning glossy as black glass began to form, layers of it shifting like gears, almost as if a smoky vision had appeared. 

Then all hell broke loose. The small circle in the center cracked, fractures dancing out across it and shards falling in as a hole opened up in it, laughter filling the air. A dark figure leapt out, his giggles ringing demonically as he dashed to the circle’s edge. His fists started pounding the electric barrier that kept him in, trying to break through it before stopping, fist still resting on the wall of the barrier. His deep yellow eyes flashed to the boy caster, smile widening as he suddenly appeared before him. 

“Not me! Not me! You can’t have me!” He cackled at the fear that flashed in the human’s eyes.

More laughter joined the haunting giggles, wailing and unearthly laughter.  The laughter sent chills to the bones, the high pitched snickering piercing the human’s cores as the beasts emerged from the hole. Two hounds clawed their way up, their sinister snickers echoing and filling the heads of the two standing there. Their heads bobbled and they started to pace forward, their large and bulking bodies swaying, sharp teeth forming a wicked smile. 

The caster suddenly choked, his eyes going wide as blood dribbled down his chin. His eyes moved away from the two creatures that had just come from the mirror and looked up, watching a wicked smirk spread across his lips, reaching those golden eyes, laughs pushing past his teeth in hisses.

“ You can’t have me~, but we will most definitely have you.” His eyes narrowed in cynical joy, watching the blood run down the pale boy’s chin and onto the  knife he had buried in his chest. He heard a terrified scream behind him, making his heart jump in excitement as it it played out. The two massive creatures crept up on his heels their red eyes focused on the blood forming a puddle at his feet, their tongues darting out to taste it. Their excitement and snickers only seemed to grow more hurried, but they kept behind the mans heels. 

They were waiting. The caster choked, his breathes wavering as he tried to keep his feet planted where he was. The golden eyed man clicked his tongue in annoyance. So he knew that if he moved it was over, how irritating. He twisted the knife more, gleefully enjoying the pitiful being’s cries of pain and the sound of bone scraping against metal. 

“No!” A hoarse sob came from behind him, watching in horror as her companions body dropped to the ground. As soon as his head hit the floor, the power around the circle broke, allowing the two beasts to surge forward, their laughs ringing out as they ripped into the flesh of the fallen caster. His screams fell on deaf ears as the standing figure curled forward on his bloodied hands, his laughs starting small before growing louder and more manic, his body jolting with each one. 

“Free! Free! Once again we’re free! Ahaha!” he bounced, a wooden jingle echoing from him before he snickered happily, his sharp eyes whipping back to the girl who was frozen on the ground, watching her companion being torn apart. Her whole body trembled, lips a pale blue and face ghostly white. Smirking he slowly and tauntingly strode over, watching her try to scramble back from him only to fall back and sob in horror as he stood over her. 

“Now, what is such a young pretty, little thing like you doing opening up the Twilight?” His bloody hand reached down, brushing across her face.

“We just wanted to prove it was real! Why are you doing this!” She shook and flinched when he squatted down beside her, rubbing his maroon hair in careful thought. 

“Hmmmmm…. Hmmmmm….” He tapped his foot a little, weight shifting back and forth as he stroked his face feigning careful thinking, “Why am I doing this I wonder?” Giggles fell off his lips before his bright eyes widened and a grin spread across his face, “Hey! I know let’s play a game!” He ignored the sound of disbelief beside him and stood up, jumping a bit in excitement, “Yeah! A game! Don’t worry it’ll just be us!” The two dogs strode back over, licking their chops as they stared down at her hungrily. 

He grinned and held up a small wooden pipe, “I’m gonna play this for ten seconds! A head start for you! If you can get out of here without getting lost, you win! But if I find you~!” The two hounds began to snicker next to him, their tails swaying high in the air and their feet dancing about. Her eyes flashed with fear as he raised the pipe up, her limbs quickly scrambling to get herself up as the first sharp note left the instrument. His eyes flitted up as he watched her disappear into the darkness, his lips curling as he continued his playful and haunting melody. 

True to his words at ten seconds he stopped, dashing up from the ground and into the trees, hot in pursuit, his childish giggles and occasional fluted tunes ringing through the woods, “I’m going to find you!” 

  
  


The clearing that was left behind was still, the dark and ghostly mirror still clicking and churning in the ground. A pale hand suddenly slapped down on the surface of it, anchoring onto it as a figure pulled itself out of the center, huffing as his legs finally caught the edge, allowing him to pull himself out. He quickly excited the circle, face twisting and hand flying up to cover his nose. 

“Ugh,” His crimson eyes looked over as the destroyed body of what he guessed used to be a person. His shoes gently kicked at the painted line around the mirror, destroying it and causing the mirror to fade away as if it were apart of a meer dream. His raven locks reflected the moonlight above him and he looked around the woods before jogging off, wanting to leave being the site of the ritual as quickly as he could. 

  
  
  
  


“Oh my goddess, did you hear?”

Chatter echoed off the walls, filling the classroom like a thick haze. Students hovered over one another in small groups, phones out to show photos, send texts, and read news articles. Lips spread gossip worse than disease; it was almost as if some sort of spell had been cast, captivating everyone to the subject at hand. 

Violet slowly slid into his seat, lavender eyes wandering around the classroom in slight dread. Just what gossip was it this time? Everyone was up clambering and standing around, hurriedly talking to one another to try and hear the story or to tell it; each time it went around it became more and more ridiculous.

“About the monster in the woods?” A worried voice asked, tone hushed.

“I heard it had huge claws!”

“Ugly yellow teeth--”

Oh, for Goddess’ sake. The platinum blonde rolled his eyes, pulling out his notes and pencils as he started getting ready for class, trying to ignore the obnoxious voices around him. His hands idly shuffled his supplies about, straightening them; homework in the corner, pencil at his side for use, eraser up top for easy access, and booklet open to an empty page for notes. He looked up at the clock, clicking his tongue softly at the time. He’d have to listen to everyone for a while longer, it seemed. He pulled  his phone out, his small Hero charm swinging around gently with the movement as he went to distract himself in his game. His thumbs tapped softly on the screen, trying to make sure he picked the right path for his character to go, drowning out the voices around him.

Almost.

“No, no I heard it was a vampire, and they sucked someone dry--” 

“I heard that someone got shot--”

“I heard it was a werewolf and it tore one guy apart and bit the other!” 

A hand gently nudged his shoulder, drawing his attention away from the screen, his lips in a tight scowl as he was pulled away from fighting off the monsters and demons on his phone screen. The golden blonde beside him smiled, waving a little at him, before scooting his desk closer, his face bubbling with excitement. Violet felt a weary smile tug at his lips, already knowing what the other was going to ask.

“Hey, Violet! What do you think happened?”

“Oh come on, Red, not you, too…” He sighed heavily, putting his phone down on the desk, game paused. He leaned into his palm to stare drolly at the other, whose cheeks puffed up while a blush danced across his cheeks in mild embarrassment, making Violet snort softly. All of a sudden, Red grabbed his hooded jean jacket to shake him. The lighter blonde scowled as his whole upper body rocked back and forth, head feeling slightly heavy from all the violent movement.

“But, Vio,” Red protested in a whine, “Nothing ever happens here! Don’t tell me it hasn’t peaked your interest!”

Violet’s lavender eyes rolled at the other’s whines, grabbing his hands to gently peel them off the collar of his jacket, moving them away so he could think again. A sigh fell off his lips before he looked back fondly at the other’s over dramatic complaints and pouting lips. “If it was real, Red,  _ maybe _ . But it’s probably just a hoax, like the Lord of the Mountain and,” He rolled his eyes a bit again, “ _ Koroks _ .”

Red’s pout deepened, lines forming on his brow as his nose wrinkled. “Hey! Koroks are  _ real _ !”

The desk behind him suddenly jumbled as a broad shouldered teen sat down, the table top’s edge jabbing Violet in his back. Violet twisted around to look at the newcomer as he dropped his bag in a clatter on the tiled floor, the objects inside ringing out in sharp protest. His chocolate brown hair swayed as he leaned forward, plucking out his earbuds as a sharp and smug smirk danced on his lips.  His hands held his desk in place as Violet tried to push him away in irritation for squishing him when he sat down.

“Hate to break it to you, but you’re both wrong,” Their other friend, Blue, says in a matter-of-fact sort of tone, “It’s a homicide with a witness. And she claims that she saw a  _ monster _ . Of course, she’s probably just scared. My dad’s leading the investigation now and the blood trail leads into the woods with human footprints--” He suddenly yelped as his head was smacked, a hand resting on top of his skull. Another boy who was almost an identical copy of the brunette sat down behind Red, finishing their small square in the back of the class. The dirty blonde glared at the brunette, taking off his baseball cap as he settled in and gently set his bag down.

“Dude, Dad  _ literally _ said not to say anything until the investigation was secured by the department.” He glared a little harder, ocean blue eyes battling dark blue, arms crossing in front of him as he rested his back against the wall his desk was against.

“Green, you’re such a hag,” Blue said, sighing bitterly, “lighten up.” 

Red finally let his attention leave Violet and he squirmed around in his chair, his attention immediately going to the twin brothers behind him, his hands gripping the back of his chair tightly as a new giddy expression took over his features. Violet slowly turned sideways in his chair as well, his elbow settling on Blue’s desk, palm resting under his cheek as he looked at Green. Red opened his mouth to speak, unspoken words already causing the others to flinch as Green’s hand quickly slapped over it to hush him. Red’s shoulders drooped and little and he lightly pounded his fists on the table as Green slowly took his hand away, crossing his arms again as he averted his gaze down a bit, brows furrowing in slight frustration. Green sighs in resignation.

“Ugh, alright,  _ jeez _ . All I can say is that two college kids were screwing around in the woods when they were attacked by some maniac with a knife, okay? My dad doesn’t want anyone going into the woods until they can find this guy. He’s still on the loose and they assume he’s probably trying to hide out there, which means the whole mountain has to stay evacuated until they solve the case.”

Red blubbered a bit and groaned, slumping down onto Green’s desk as his hands twitched in defeat. Green gently patted the younger boy’s head, chuckling at his childish display before looking back at Vio, a sly grin on his face as his eyes twinkled in slight mischief, “ _ Still _ not interested?”

“No. You told me all I needed to know. Some freak stabbed someone. Nothing exciting at all. End case.” He shrugged to signal he had practically already forgotten the topic, tucking his shoulder length hair back behind his ear before turning back around in his seat, plucking his phone up from his desk and hitting the continue button. He ignored Red’s whines and protests and Green’s chiding after that, leaning forward as he focused on the tasks his games gave him.

Blue snickered behind him and flicked his earring, mumbling, “Nerd,” before sitting back in his own seat, mirroring his twin.

The teacher walked in a few minutes after that, and the students all scrambled to their seats and began to settle down from their previous excitement, the murder going out of nearly everyone’s minds as the teacher began scribbling that day’s objectives up on the board for the students to see. Vio tapped his pencil against his desk gently, barely making a soft clicking noise, before looking out the window of the class. 

The woods lined the entire town; it was almost comical to hear someone suggest that they stay  _ out _ of the woods when at some point you had to pass by them or use roads that went  _ through _ them to get to other places.

That’s how Hateno was: surrounded by woods. A small highway led into town and back out and there was only one stop light in the entire village. The closest town in any direction was a couple hours drive away at  _ least _ . It was sort of nice--the isolation, that is. Nothing ever really  _ happened _ . That’s probably why everyone was obsessing over this so much; these were the types of things you’d hear happening in cities like Castle Town and Gerudo Town or in movies, novels and TV dramas. But the small villages and towns like Hateno and Kakariko? Never.

A huff left his lips as he began to take his notes, his characters printed lightly and in a uniform structure, his mind subconsciously following the lesson being taught. Hyrule Historia. It was almost like a fairytale, listening to the past of their country and world. Monsters, beasts, princesses, heroes, evil beings... His teacher made a joke causing everyone to laugh loudly, drawing his attention down to his notes to see what exactly they were talking about that had caused it. People of the Twilight…

“Now all jokes aside,” The teacher continued, “in our early history, Hylians believed that in another realm, apart from ours, we all had mirror reflections that were made up of our deepest, darkest desires. This mirror world was called the  _ Twilight Realm _ , to which the only way to get there and back was through a magic mirror. 

“Now of course, in modern times, we all know that it was just a belief, a  _ myth _ , just like the folklore of the Hero of Legend and of talking trees,” A few more snickers ran across the room before the teacher cleared his throat, a soft smile on his face as he continued, “however, this belief is particularly important because of the many monuments and customs that it created, such as the laws that were created to help benefit both  _ our _ world as well as the Twilight world. Of course, they’ve been cut from our modern laws, but they still held a huge part in how our trade and politics ran for several thousand years.” His eyes flitted  down to scan over the textbook for the next topic before he looked up and paused, his eyes settled beside Vio. The light blonde turned his head to see Red with his hand high in the air, trembling slightly from over excitement as his eyes glimmered with impossible determination. 

“Ah yes, Red, what is it?”

“Do you think it’s possible that they could have existed? Maybe not the way they were recorded but you know, kinda like how the other races, like the Zora, in Hyrule have changed over time to look more Hylian?” The boy beside him seemed to grow shyer as he went on, his shoulders crunching inwards as the eyes of the classroom all fell into focus on him, his voice growing quieter and smaller as his confidence slowly ebbed away from him.

The teacher slowly straightened, hand rubbing his head in thought as he tried to look for a answer that would help satisfy Red’s curiosity. Finally, he adjusted his glasses as he shrugged, twirling his pen in his hand as he began to motion with it as he talked.

“Well… in theory, it could be possible. But it still stands that they were believed to live in an entirely different realm, separate from but also a  _ mirror _ of ours. We also have no evidence of their existence besides the lore and ruins of two temples that we have today. But that’s a great idea, Red! Those are the questions that historians have to ask in order to find the truth.” A few whispers and snorts sparked around the class as the teacher offered him a warm smile before turning around and continuing on with the lesson.

Red slumped in his seat, cheeks pink as he tried to distract himself from his embarrassment with his pencil. Vio reached over and nudged him gently, offering him a half smile, hoping to raise his bubbly spirits back up to the surface. He watched Red’s eyes glimmer before that big goofy grin found Red’s face again before he returned to his notes. Vio heard the brunette behind him scoff lightly, a foot softly kicking his leg from behind as he went back to his own notes as well, eyes glancing at the clock every so often to see how much longer he’d be here.

Today was already feeling stretched. 

  
  


It wasn’t until lunch that the four boys got to see each other again, having gone their separate ways for club activities. Vio was the first to their table, as usual, his homemade lunch settled on the wooden surface as he broke out a bottle of water and ornately decorated chopsticks. 

Red was next to join him, setting down his own lunch box and immediately talking about how his club went today, scooting closer to him as he tried to contain his mind’s content. Vio paid careful attention to each topic, while also focusing on his own food; how his cooking club had gone, how he wished that the sub in it had been nicer, that he  _ really _ hadn’t meant to drop red cupcake dye on his shirt but the sub still hated him, so on and so forth. Vio offered hums and nods, showing that he was listening as he opened up his steamed veggies, using his chopsticks to shuffle them around and cool them off before beginning to eat them.

The twins usually arrived last. They always got meals from the cafeteria, since they refused to get up early enough to make their own lunches and their mother had stopped making them back in middle school. Blue uncaringly dropped his plastic tray down with a nice snapping  _ plop _ and sighed dramatically, looking down at the food with mild disgust and discontent.

“I swear they serve the same thing every day. Curry, noodles, pumpkin soup, and fried fish,” He nudged his fish with his fork a little, as if testing if it were still alive before taking a lazy bite, shuddering. “And it doesn’t even taste like fish.” He looked at Red’s food enviously, which was a salad and rice rolls. He sighed heavily and laid his head down on the table, leaning on his forearm, cheek squishing his eye into a squint as he grumply kept stabbing at his food. Moments later, Green came up beside him, sitting down much more gracefully, with an identical styrofoam plate of food.

They sat for a moment in silence, chewing and picking at their food, an unspoken held breath shared by all of them. Violet let out his own, staring down at the slightly shiny and limp vegetables that occupied the blue plastic container he had them in, thoughts swirling around.

It had seemed so very slow today; class had dragged, as everyone only wanted to talk about the kid who had been stabbed out in the woods and all of the  _ impossible _ ideas of what kind of creature, beside the realistic Hylian man, could have done it. It made him bury himself into his game, which had only frustrated him  _ more _ because he’d finished his quests for this cycle already and didn’t want to be bothered moving on until he could form a powerful enough party to continue. He flicked his charm that was hanging off his phone, watching the acrylic character swing about, flashing a little from the light. He stole a glance at Red, who had a big grin on his face. It was the kind of grin that a child might have when they were over-excited about something that they were hiding behind their back from you, something that they  _ knew _ could possibly get them in trouble, but they  _ still _ couldn’t contain themselves.

It didn’t take long before Red put down his fork, his whole body practically jirating as he looked at the group, his uncontainable idea spilling out of his mouth in one chaotic rush of words, “ We should go look at that area in the woods where they said it happened! It would be so cool if we found something like a fang or a claw! Maybe some fur! Or--Or a footprint of some sort!” 

They all stared at him for a moment, frozen. Green’s plastic fork slipping out of his hand in slight shock, his collection of rice dropping of the table. The three of them eyed him in disbelief, each quickly meeting each others’ eyes before turning back to Red and in unison shouting at him, “No way!” 

Red immediately began to whine, pouting as his eyes grew upset and sitting up a bit to lean over the table as he threw his mini tantrum, “Come on, you guys! Can’t we? We’ll just take baseball bats and a camera! I just want to see if it really was a werewolf or… or  _ Mothman _ or something! Come on,  _ pleeeaaase _ ???” He threw his hands up in exasperation, his voice still a high whine as he kept trying to convince everyone that it was indeed going to be some sort of fun.

“Mothman?” Blue raised a unimpressed eyebrow, fork halfway to his mouth. His noodles to slipped off before he could bite them off, and he hissed out a swear as he tried to gather them up again.

“Red,” Violet tried to reason with a gentle voice, immediately hating how hurt Red looked that now  _ Vio _ was saying no, as well. “Werewolves don’t exist, and neither do vampires. I know this is crazy and exciting for you, but what if you got  _ hurt _ ?” He gently put his hand on the other’s arm. Red sighed in disappointment and pulled on the hem of his red striped shirt, his eyes downcast.

“But that’s why  _ you  _ guys would be there. We could all protect each other, like when we were kids…”

Oh,  _ that _ was a dirty card to pull. All four of them had grown up on the same street as children, depending on one another, helping one another, swearing oaths, and sticking together. They had promised to always have each other’s backs. 

No matter what happened.

Violet felt his chest tighten a little, his eyes moving away as guilt dawned on him a bit. Lately, they really hadn’t seen much of each other outside of school, what with everyone so busy with their own things and forgetting to come back to each other in the end. Blue stabbed his fork into his noodles repeatedly and inaudibly grumbled something before stuffing his face with more of his food. Green raised an eyebrow at him, slight disgust showing from his brothers piggish muttering.

“What were you saying?” Green asked.

“I said fine! I’ll go, alright! So stop looking so pathetic, you  _ dweeb _ . I’ll go just so I can laugh when your sorry ass turns up empty handed.” Blue’s olive toned cheeks seemed to redden a little before he stuffed more food in his mouth, ignoring the bright and joyful look the blonde was giving him and the exasperated look he earned from his brother.

Green and Vio looked at each other, both dejectedly sighing and agreeing to go as well. What else could be done? If they left these two idiots to their own devices, who  _ knew _ what sort of trouble they’d get themselves into--not just while stranded in the wilderness, but when they got  _ home _ , too. Green pursed his lips as he looked back at Red, lazily pointing at him as his eyebrows knitted together in a serious expression, “Fine, I’ll go. But try not to get your hopes up too much. If we get out there and find nothing, there’s no second trips and no more searching.” 

“Oh, where are you guys going?” Another blonde, this one a girl, suddenly joined them, her lips pulled into a smirk as she set her bag on the table and sipped from her bottle of tea. She sat just a little too close to Green, who started to represent a radish more than a boy as her shoulder brushed his side every time she moved about. She leaned forward, her eyes glistening with excitement as her full attention turned to Red, who was sitting across from her. 

“Zelda! We’re all going to the woods to check out the--” 

“Shh, not so loud! We’ll get in trouble if we’re caught, dumbass!” Blue hissed across the table, making Red flush before leaning over to the girl in the yellow sundress. 

“We are gonna go cryptid hunting!” He said in a hushed tone, grinning happily and watching her face twist into excitement as well, her sharp smile producing smooth and defined dimples. There was a collection of soft groans as the girl’s eyes brightened up, her palms going flat on the table as she straightened in excitement.

“Can I come, too!?” 

  
  


“Okay, this officially  _ sucks, _ ” Blue groaned from the back of the group as they all trudged through the roots and bushes, making Vio roll his eyes as he followed behind the still enthusiastic Red and Zelda. They had been here for maybe twenty minutes at most, in which  _ every minute  _ Blue had been complaining about anything and everything he could. The culprit of his complaining was because of the leaves above them which, while providing spotty sanctuary from the direct sunlight, didn’t save them much from the heat that was engulfing them.

“And it’s  _ so _ \--”

“Hot. We  _ know _ , Blue,” Green groaned back, quickening his pace so he could be beside Vio instead of his twin, his metal baseball bat letting out hollow thuds and sharp tinks as it was dragged across small rocks and knobby roots. Green looked over at the light blonde, raising an eyebrow as he leaned closer to him, blue eyes looking him up and down suspiciously, “ Oh, come on, Vio. Don’t tell me you’re actually enjoying this!”

“ _ What _ ?” The blonde looked over at him, snapping a little in surprise as the other watched him in mock disgust.

“You haven’t rolled your eyes or blown out your damn breath  _ once  _ since we started, which is what you  _ always _ do when you’re bored or irritated!” The honey blonde clicked his tongue before looking forward at the two in front of them, his eyes focused on Zelda, who was looking at Red, a bright smile on her face. His cheeks flushed a little when she laughed at something Red said, before looking off to the woods again, a pout on his face, “Not fair.”

“Sorry that I am at least  _ trying _ to be positive about this,” Violet rolled his eyes in retaliation, a smirk tugging at his lips as his shoulders went up into a nonchalant shrug that caused Green to scowl as he turned back to Vio. “We should call you two the  _ terrible twins _ .”

“Yeah, yeah, shut up,” Green sighed and rubbed the back of his head, swinging his bat up to rest on his shoulders, his head leaning back as he sighed, eyes searching the bright, sunlit canopy. He yanked on the collar of his shirt to try and let some cool air run over his sweaty skin, “Why did we have to do this on literally the  _ hottest _ day of the week? It’s like  _ hell _ .”

Red skidded to a stop in front of them, his thick hiking boots digging into the dirt a bit as he looked down at his phone, scratching his neck as he hummed thoughtfully, “It’s supposed to be around here somewhere… It was a designated campsite for tenting, so,” He looked up and around for a minute, searching between the trees, before gasping and jumping up in excitement, his backpack rattling as he pointed to the bright top of a tent hidden in the shrubs, “There!”

He sprinted forward, breaking through the bushes in his run to the campsite, Zelda hot on his heels and leaving everyone scrambling to catch up. “Red wait! We have to be careful!” Blue dashed past both Green and Violet, his athletic strides easily allowing him to seemingly glide right past them, his bat held tightly at his side, ready for anything they might happen to encounter. When they all finally caught up and came to a halt, there was nothing; just a charred campfire pit filled with old ashes and a lonely, open tent.

“What? It’s supposed to be here!” The blonde whined in dismay, his shoulders slumping and head dropping down to look at his phone for any clues or signs he might have missed. Blue rolled his eyes, his hand loosening its tight grip as he looked around the forest floor at his feet, carefully avoiding the ropes staked in the ground from the tent. “ Good job, genius, you took us to the wrong place. Now these poor campers are gonna come back and think we’re here to mug them,” The brunette slapped his bat in his hand a few times for emphasis before walking around to the edge of the campsite, poking around at bushes and rocks with the tip of his bat. 

“Blue does have a point, Red. I mean, you were just guessing from what the news said, but we really shouldn’t be investigating random people’s campsites,” Green put a gentle hand on Red’s shoulder, squeezing it before nodding back in the direction of the trail, “Let’s just head back. It’s too hot out here, anyway. If my dad finds anything like that, you’ll be the first to know, alright?”

Pouting angrily, Red nodded slowly, resigning to the fact he’d come up empty handed. He slipped his phone back in his pocket and sighed. “I just really wanted to find something!  _ Anything _ !” He groaned, starting to trudge back with them, hope lost, before they all jumped as a scream ripped through the air. All of them stood frozen, looking at one another in terror. 

“What was  _ that _ ?” Red’s voice wavered as he stared at Green for answers, his hands shaking just a little. Zelda quickly came over, her baseball bat up as she eyed the forest, “Y-You’re right, maybe we should get out of here…”

Violet looked around quickly, his eyes widening when he realized not all of them were there standing around the campsite. “Where’s Blue?”

All of them looked at each other, panicked, and immediately began to look around, each of them spreading and calling out in hopes of finding where the brunette had gone. Violet skidded to a halt at the edge of a small yet steep slope, seeing bits of loose roots and dirt still crumbling down from the spot that must’ve given way. “Blue! Are you okay?” He called out, his heart pounding loudly in his ears as he watched the trees and bushes below for any signs of movement, “Guys! Over here!” His hand gripped his phone tightly, his knuckles white and strained. As the others came over to the cliffside he quickly flicked it up and opened it, having just typed in the emergency hotline when a shaky voice called back to them.

“G-guys? You might want to come see this…”

Violet raised his eyes from his phone screen,  when he heard the familiar voice, hand lowering as he held his breath. The remaining group looked at one another, uncertainty flashing in their eyes, before hesitantly and carefully making their way down, holding to roots and grabbing at the small saplings as they got closer to the end of the steep slope. Green was fastest, of course, worried about his possibly injured twin, and was the first to touch down to the flat ground at the end of the cliff. He gasped and dashed over to to the right, where Blue probably was, though the others still couldn’t see him.

Cautiously, Violet pushed his way through the thicket, looking at the deep skid marks left behind from his friend’s fall as he, too, reached more stable ground. His lavender eyes flicked up in the direction Green had gone, focusing on the back of Blue’s soiled t-shirt as he came up to him. Blue was completely still, unresponsive to his brother’s hold while his eyes stared out before him, clutching his arm at the elbow as blood dripped down from a patch of raw, dirty skin, flowing between and over his fingers.

“Oh my Goddess, Blue, you’re  _ bleeding _ !” Zelda rushed forth to him, hands hovering over the deep gash, her eyes looking at his blood and dirt covered arm. But Blue still didn’t look away from what  his eyes were frozen on; he was silent, his face pale and breathing shallow. Violet’s light eyes slowly traveled to where the other was staring, eyes widening in horror as his gut lurched, bile threatening to come up at any moment.

There was white spray paint on the ground, forming a circle with shapes, symbols, and old hylian writing inside it. Across the entire ground were dark marks, staining the lighter dirt into a deep, rich color. Big chunks of something dark and  _ red _ were strewn around and the air was laced with the putrid smell of rotting flesh. The trees surrounding the summoning circle were covered in red stains and deep gashes that looked like claw marks and scorch marks scarred the ground around the outside of the last ring of the circle.

The group was deathly silent, hearts  _ pounding _ and breaths unsteady as horror gripped them  _ hard _ . Red fumbled and fell back on his butt, his strength leaving his legs the longer he stared at the scene. He turned away quickly, the sound of him retching filling the silence.

Blue was the first to speak, his voice shaky and weak, “W-we need to go. We shouldn’t have come in the first place,” He slowly turned away from the circle and accepted Green’s outstretched hand, hobbling over to the boy who was on all fours, shaking on the ground. He carefully helped Red up with his good arm as the smaller blonde wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his face white as a sheet. Everyone nodded in agreement, slowly shuffling away from the gruesome scene, turning their backs with hurried motive. 

Red looked over at everyone else, his mouth opening to form an apology for bringing them here, but instead his eyes went wide in complete horror, screaming at the male in the back, “Vio! Behind you!”

Violet barely had any time to register what Red had screamed before a unearthly snickering growl cut through the atmosphere. His blood went cold as electricity shot up his spine, the high moans and giggles ringing in his ears and the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight. He tried to look behind him, his arms going up in an attempt to shield himself from a black blur he barely caught in the corner of his eyes when his feet suddenly ripped out from under him. His back landed harshly on the ground, his backpack full of thick and sharp school supplies adding to the sharp pain rather than cushioning it as his body jerked backwards, dragging along the ground. The pressure at his shoulders and neck hurt, every tug and lurch jarring his muscles and bones. The hellish moans of laughter were right in his ear, hot,  _ humid _ breath burning his neck and ear from whoever--no,  _ what _ ever had taken ahold of him. 

It was dragging him deeper into the forest, using its monstrous strength to haul him backwards. His hands desperately tried grasping the roots and uneven ground to get away from whatever  _ monster _ had taken him, his wide eyes swinging up as he yelled for help.

Everyone was screaming his name as they rushed forward. Green grasped both of his hands tightly, holding on as best as he could despite how clammy they were, while Red and Zelda both quickly grabbed one of his legs, his body coming off the ground as they struggled to get him back. Blue grabbed the smaller two around their waists, only for the trio to topple over when Blue hissed from pain shooting up his arm and ended up dragging them down with him. He was the first to scramble back up, grabbing one of Violet’s legs with his good arm, his heightened athleticism only helping the slightest bit more than before. Red, meanwhile, hopped to his feet and grabbed Violet’s other leg.

But they all seemed to realize at the same time that this creature was  _ much _ too strong for them, even as a group.

“Take off your backpack!” Green screamed at him. Violet hurriedly tugged one of his hands from Green’s so he could slip it out of his backpack strap, then repeating the process for his other. As soon as his arms weren’t caught in the backpack and its weight, his body dragged on the ground towards his friends while they  _ still pulled _ on him, very nearly crashing from the change, had Blue’s balance not been as good as it was. The sound of material ripping filled their ears as cold air rushed over his exposed upper back, and he gratefully took Green’s hand and rushed into the close,  _ safe _ proximity of his friends, whipping around. His eyes locked on a very large black hound that was currently ripping his backpack and part of his shirt to shreds, its blood red eyes narrowed on him, its face scrunching and gums flaring as it snarled and wailed as it realized it hadn’t gotten its prey. The creature lunged forward, its jaws snapping loudly.

A loud metallic  _ thwack _ rang out, a flash of silver going past Violet’s vision, and the beast yelped as its head was slammed to the ground, a half-whimper, half-wail echoing like gunfire in the small clearing. Blue stood over it, panting, his bat still resting heavily right behind the hounds skull, blood slowly streaming down the curved side from his still-bleeding arm. He quickly scrambled away, hands clumsily grasping at everyone as he rushed away from the dazed animal, yelling, “ _ Run _ !”

None of them needed to be told a second time, and they dashed away from the dog-like monstrosity, running deeper into the woods towards the town and yelling at each other. 

“I fucking told you this was a bad idea! I  _ told _ you!” Blue screamed up at them as he came up in the back, his feet pounding hard and fast on the ground, good hand pushing the others so he could keep everyone ahead of him. A hollow and distressed wail echoed through the trees behind them, hurrying them even more.

“I didn’t think it would  _ attack _ us!” Red cried back, his voice a harsh sob. They all continued to run as fast as they could, glancing back for signs of the hellish monster or anything else that could be lurking about. Once they had made it back to a street they stopped, huffing and wheezing for breath. Violet grabbed the hem of his shirt and wiped sweat from his face, his heart thundering in his ears, chest tight enough with fear to make him feel  _ sick _ . He looked back at the forest, eyes darting around for the nightmare they’d just encountered, his mind swirling as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. 

“We need to tell your Dad, Green.” He could barely recognize his own voice when he spoke, his eyes and ears making everything feel like he’d just been chucked into a static TV box. The light blonde raised his hands, breathing hard as he saw them tremble and shake, stinging and bleeding the slightest bit from his hands dragging on the ground back there. 

“No shit, Sherlock!” While Green’s voice was sharp, he could tell there was no anger; Green was just as panicked and terrified as the rest of them. He already had his phone out, hands trembling as he dialed a number before pulling it up to his ear, his face flushed from the heat and running. His voice was shaking as he turned to Red, but still, there was no anger. “Red, you owe me lunch for the next month because I am  _ so _ done right now.” His voice heaved as he slipped a hand around his stomach and turned away, taking a couple steps away as his fingers tapped the back of his phone, either for patience or to calm himself--or both. Zelda quietly went up to him, her hand worriedly touching his shoulder as she tried to offer some sort of comfort.

Kidding or not, Red nodded solemnly as he gripped his striped shirt, his legs wobbling worse than they had been before they’d found the hound in the woods, and he sat down on the edge of the street before he could topple over again. Green gently pat Zelda’s hands before he walked off to speak with his dad once he finally answered, leaving Zelda behind to go speak in private. The rest of them huddled together by Red as they watched the woods, adrenaline still not slowing as they tried to comprehend what had just happened.

“What  _ was _ that?” Zelda whispered, her hands held tightly to her chest as she trembled, “It was like-” She cut herself off, shaking her eyes and closing her eyes tightly. 

Violet knew exactly what she was talking about; he’d felt it too. It was like something thick and dark had wrapped around him, clutching his very soul as if to suffocate any sort of life he had in him. It was like everything good and  _ light  _ in the world had been dragged away, replaced by sheer, crippling terror. He looked up, trying to see their faces, trying to form words to explain or reassure his friends as one of his shaky hands went up, touching his neck. Wet. His brows furrowed, his moving opening to speak but he’d barely felt a sound pass his lips when things flooded into black, the world was ripped away from his grasp. He barely processed the surprised,  _ scared _ shouts of his friends before everything else disappeared, too.

  
  


A hand went through ashy brown hair, a bored sigh leaving the lips of the figure resting on the branch of a large tree. He bit his thumb in contemplation, thinking about the disappointing outcome of his game a couple nights ago. His golden eyes flitted up as he saw the creature emerge from the brush below, whining to him. He tucked his knees up and dropped down beside it, gently scratching its bloody muzzle and humming in curiosity. Raising his fingers to his face he sniffed the blood before he blinked in surprise. 

“This can’t be…” He licked it, his eyes narrowing slightly. The beast nuzzled him softly, before looking behind him as the second one emerged behind him, its massive head brushing his side, looking for affection. Gritting his teeth in annoyance, his thumb going back between his teeth as he chewed. 

“Can’t be… Can’t be…” He continued to mumble to himself, frustration growing as continued to think, his smile steadily growing more and more twisted. 

“Heh… just means the game isn’t over.” 

 

  
  


  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr! @Fawnhanae


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